When Confederate forces took the Norfolk Naval Yard, they found the remains of the USS Merrimack. They raised her and converted her into a Casemate Ironclad Ram and armed her with 10 guns. Renamed the CSS Virginia, her first military action sank the Union ships Congress and Cumberland, making the Union fleet obsolete overnight. In response to this new ominous threat, the Union built a bigger monster of their own - the Monitor!
The Metal Tyrant of the sea
We'll bring the South down to its knees
All engines full for ramming speed
Nine plates of iron and blackened steel
From the mind of John Ericsson in 1861
118 days it took to fit her with her guns
To answer the Confederates a fit courageous crew
They launched her to serve Liberty in 1862
(Chorus)
The Monitor, the Iron Scourge
The Metal Tyrant of the sea
The Monitor, a slaughterer
Will bring the South down to its knees
The Monitor, the forefather
Of naval combat for the free
The Monitor, a murderer
Engines full for ramming speed!
As she steamed ahead, they set sail for hell
Sinking deep down to the depths, dead sailors never tell
In the battle of Hampton Roads the Merrimack would fight
Only one dared challenge her, they'd battle on this night
(Repeat Chorus)
Four hours cannons lighting up the skyline
Neither ship could turn the battle tide
A hit from their cannons and the captain became blind
First Officer Greene took the helm and refused to run and hide
The seas were rough while undertow the waves were crashing high
On New Year's Eve right off the coast some 16 men would die
She holds today a legacy her history enshrined
The fiercest of the ironclads, a legend of her time
The Monitor, the Iron Scourge
The Metal Tyrant of the sea
The Monitor, a slaughterer
Will bring the South down to its knees
The Monitor, the forefather
Of naval combat for the free
The Monitor, a mariner
Engines full for ramming speed!
The Metal Tyrant of the sea
We'll bring the South down to its knees
All engines full for ramming speed
Nine plates of iron and blackened steel
The Monitor!
